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Updated on
July 06, 2010,
K.G.
asks from Northbrook, IL
on
July 01, 2010

How Do You Keep the Kiddie Pool Slime" "Away?

We got one of those 3' x 10' blow-up pools for the yard. It develops this filmy slime in a couple of days. Dumping that much water so frequently seems to be an incredible waste! Is there anything I can do to keep the water fresh for longer?

Featured Answers

J.S.
answers from Chicago
on
July 02, 2010

We have the same kind of pool and we got a big blue tarp to keep over it, anchoring the sides with bricks. It works pretty well. And I use nearly all the water to water the plants. When I change the water (once a week or so) I scrub the inside with a little clorox spray and then rinse it out. We still get a little slime, but this works pretty well. And the scrubbing sounds like a pain, but it really isn't all that bad - only takes about 10 minutes.

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S.R.
answers from Chicago
on
July 01, 2010

Salt is supposed to stop algae growth but I don't know how much you would need you could call a pool center and ask . We only have a small shallow pool and I only half fill it. The kids enjoy taking buckets of water and pouring it on the flower beds when the water needs changing at least it gets reused!

We have the same pool. This is what I do.
Dump a cup of bleach in every day. I also put a half cup of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda in everyday. It keeps the pool clean as well as the bleach. We can keep our pool water clear (along with skimming it) for 4 to 5 days at a time.

When my 3rd was little and couldn't go in the big pool, I set up a mini pool for him. I was able to find a pool product at WalMart but I can't think of the name. It is with all the pool chemicals and looks like a bag of shock but it specifically says for kiddie pools. You just pour in the amount of powder based on how many gallons of water you have in the pool and stir it up a bit. You can also get chlorine/bromine granuals and sprinkle them in as needed but it would be good to get test strips to measure the levels of the chemicals. My cousins made there pool a salt water pool (no chemicals). tehy got instructions from a pool place but they have had some issues, mainly a weird smell when there are many hot days in a row. Good Luck.

Bleach is chlorine as is salt (dissolves into Sodium and Chlorine in water). So, either of those should work. However, then you have to deal with how they'll affect your yard, etc. when you change the water.

We choose to dump the water (in the yard so we don't water that area) and let the pool dry between uses.

It is wasteful if you're dumping the water down the driveway, but if you're using it to water plants, yard, it's recycling, right?

You can use bleach and pool chlorine as well as long as you're using the correct amounts and are comfortable with the use of the chemicals.

We have the same kind of pool and we got a big blue tarp to keep over it, anchoring the sides with bricks. It works pretty well. And I use nearly all the water to water the plants. When I change the water (once a week or so) I scrub the inside with a little clorox spray and then rinse it out. We still get a little slime, but this works pretty well. And the scrubbing sounds like a pain, but it really isn't all that bad - only takes about 10 minutes.

You can "shock" your pool with a chlorine treatment. You can purchase this from a pool supply store, but the cheapest, easiest way is to use good old chlorine bleach. The correct amount to use comes out to about 1/4 tsp. of bleach for every 10 gallons of water, so if you have one of the larger-sized pools this comes out to 2 1/2 tsp. for every 100 gallons of water.

We had the same problem. I ended up changing it often and I scrubbed it with Dawn soap and a soft broom before I added more water. When I emptied it, I put the end of a short hose in the drain hole and put the other end on plants or trees that needed watering. They were downhill from the pool so it worked great. I also used a huge bucket to scoop water and watered the plants. Great workout!! The kids used there watering cans to help me.
I did try using some pool chemicals but it was a hastle. I was
afraid I was using too much and I didn't want to put the water on the plants so I stopped.

You can use household bleach. It kills the algae and prevents mosquitoes. Not sure how much to use for that much water, I'd start with a cup. Put it in at night or early morning, so the chlorine smell is gone before the kids get in. A pool supply store should be able to advise on the amount.

I would totally dump it as soon as my kids were finished. It is a pain, but it would probably be safer and cleaner. We don't have a pool that big, but move it around your yard and call it irrigation. Standing water attracts mosquitoes and then you have larvae, and standing water is a safety issue with children anyway unless you keep a child-proof cover on it (or your kids are a lot older). Rinse it out really well with the hose and let it sun-dry when you're finished.